After squandering another early lead in a series finale, the momentum at the plate plateaued down the stretch for the Oregon Ducks on Saturday.
The Ducks had just three hits in extra innings, two of which came as the Ducks played small ball to rally and conquer USC for a 6-5 walk-off win. The hero? Oregon catcher Burke-Lee Mabeus, who put down a bunt after 14 innings in the squat.
As the Oregon dugout emptied and chased Mabeus to the center field wall, there was a palpable feeling of shock and awe. What just happened?
Assistant coach Jack Marder served as head coach for the Ducks on Saturday with Mark Wasikowski out of town for his daughter’s graduation. According to Marder, the play that sealed the crucial series win for the Ducks never should’ve happened at all.
“That was definitely not the plan,” Marder said after the game with a smile. “But, Burke’s a really good bunter. He’s proven that in his work. It’s a left-on-left matchup. Matson had been dominating us, and it’s a really tough angle for him. I actually thought Burke was going to find a way to do it, no matter what.”
Freshman first baseman Brayden Jaksa reached base on an infield single to shortstop and stole second base. After moving over to third base on a groundout, the Ducks had the winning run just 90 feet away with two outs.
Bunting with two outs is always a risky play, and the roll has to be perfect. Oregon initially wanted Mabeus to show a bunt to draw the infield in and give Mabeus a chance to swing away.
“Worst case, if he shows (bunt) and it’s a ball, it puts a little bit of stress on them on the defensive side,” Marder said. “It opens up a hole where Burke’s flat and he can hit a ball to that backside, like he showed earlier in the game. I was good with all that.”
Mabeus squared to the pitch and laid the bunt down perfectly up the third base line. Jaksa crossed the plate, and USC pitcher Sax Matson couldn’t field the ball and make the throw cleanly from an awkward angle. After the chaos dispersed, Mabeus was told one key detail that he had missed.
This Burke-Lee Mabeus postgame interview had it all, even a makeshift Mark Wasikowski 😆 pic.twitter.com/KhnXFs3zqU
— Big Ten Baseball (@B1Gbaseball) May 17, 2026
“I had a drag sign on my wrist, and apparently, I missed the wipe off,” Mabeus admitted. “I wasn’t supposed to drag. But I went for it. I kind of blacked out. I was just in the moment. We work on it every day at practice, and thankfully, I was able to pull that one off for our guys.”
In a big spot, calling for a bunt can be frustrating for a hitter as hot as Mabeus is at the plate. Fortunately, Oregon’s backstop for all 34 innings in the biggest series of the season was ready for the moment.
“I was excited for it,” Mabeus said after the game. “I take some pride in my bunting skills. I’ve had a couple of bunt hits this year (and) last year. I just told myself to go for it. No pressure in a situation like that, and I was able to get it down.”
That moment represented Oregon’s ability to finish as a team. The bullpen faced adversity late in the game, but closer Devin Bell and reliever Jonah Barkoff combined to strike out 10 Trojans and toss seven shutout innings into extra innings. Collin Clarke, the typical Saturday starter for the Ducks, came out of the bullpen for the second day in a row and earned the win.
Although the offense cooled off in extras, the Ducks found a way by adjusting and playing differently. The ball never left the infield in the 14th inning, but the Ducks managed to manufacture their own offense, thanks to Jaksa’s savvy baserunning and Mabeus laying down a timely bunt.
“In this game, it’s like chess,” Marder said. “Baseball’s different than other sports. You’ve got to relax, you’ve got to stay calm … I was pumped that our guys kept saying, ‘We’re going to find a way to get this thing done,’ and we did, doing things we don’t normally do.”
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This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Oregon baseball’s walk-off bunt vs USC almost never happened
